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C Marius
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Modification of The Faraday Unipolar Generator Setup for Propulsion

I am wondering if the following device produces a forward thrust.

enter image description here

Setup explanation

The North (red) and South (blue) poles of a permanent magnet are fixed to the cart as well as the copper spokes (brown) on the insulating disc (with orange). The disc rotates in the constant magnetic field $\vec{B}$. Only the upper half of the disc rotates in the field. Note the position of the field is slightly rotated (towards vertical) compared to the setup of the unipolar generator in Faraday experiment(where the field is horizontal).

Reasons for the question

In this situation I think that the Lorenz force, $\vec{L}$ has two components $\vec{L}_x$ and $\vec{L}_z$. I think $\vec{L}_z$ pushes the electrons in the conduction layer of the copper towards the edge of the disk creating a potential difference from the middle of the disk. However, the same electrons must be also pushed to one facet of the disk by $\vec{L}_x$.

The question:

Is the whole cart therefore being pushed forward?

C Marius
  • 375
  • 2
  • 12